Monthly archives for June, 2016

Her part might be small, or large, the lead, or the comic relief. She was a pro. And best of all, she turned on its head the old and too-often-true observation that nice guys finish last.

This ‘nice guy’ finished in 1971 at age 84 at the top of her profession as a thoroughly sympathetic character actress whose skill at playing wise, understanding mothers, flaky eccentrics and kick-up-her-heels grandmas was unmatched in classic Hollywood.

Best of all, Spring Byington radiated being a nice person onscreen — and off. Lady Macbeth and I aren’t friends, she used to say.

She was in a bunch of marquee-grabbing pictures in the Thirties and Forties: When Ladies Meet, Little Women, Dosworth, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Devil and Miss Jones and (with longtime comedienne pal Marjorie Main) Heaven Can Wait. In her final feature — 1960′s Please Don’t Eat the Daisies — she played Doris Day’s animated mother.

Byington was Oscar nominated in the best supporting actress category for her role as ‘Penny Sycamore’ in Frank Capra’s 1938 comedy, You Can’t Take It With You. (She lost out to Jezebel‘s FayBainter.)

But among the most important films in Byington’s career was the 1950 comedy, Louisa, costarring Ronald Reagan.

She dazzlingly plays a widow who moves in with and disrupts her son’s family by, among other things, romancing two men (the superb duo of Edmund Gwenn and Charles Coburn). The movie turned out to be the prototype for the hugely successful Desilu tv series, December Bride, which ran on CBS from 1954 to 1959.

The tv series was Byington’s vehicle to acceptance by the broadest mainstream audience, making her a household name. She subsequently played surrogate mother on another successful series, 1959′s Laramie, a western opus that ran on NBC until 1962.

Byington’s personal life remains of interest to authors and bloggers today. She was married just once (from 1909 until 1920) to theater manager Roy Chandler, a union that produced two children. In her later years, she became closer to longtime friend, Main.

In 2007′s The Women Who Made Television Funny, author David Tucker speculates about Byington’s sexuality. Main is quoted in the book thusly: It’s true she didn’t have much use for men.

– Answer to our WHO WAS REPLACED query posed in Wednesday’s blog: Dancer-actress Vera Zorina (pictured in yesterday’s opening photo) was originally cast in 1943′s movie adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s 1940 novel, For Whom The Bell Tolls. She was replaced, of course, by Ingrid Bergman (pictured with leading man Gary Cooper). Bergman had just completed her part as ‘Ilsa Lund’ in a little picture called Casablanca.

She was cast, her hair was “cropped” for the part, but then she was replaced. It all but finished her film career.

Who was she and who replaced her? What was the film? (And, of course, you recognize its leading man.)

Hints:

– Our mystery actress was born in Germany in 1917, and commenced a career in ballet at the age of 4 (no kidding.) She later ditched her real name (Eva Brigitta Hartwig) in favor of a Russian sounding monicker largely because the ballet world back then was dominated by Russian-born talent.

– By the late Thirties she had been discovered by Samuel Goldwyn, had made her movie debut, had married choreographer-director George Balanchine and was soon destined to costar at Twentieth Century Fox.

– By the late Forties, she had exited Hollywood. In 1946, she began a long marriage to Goddard Lieberson, a highly influential figure in the classical music world as president of Columbia Records. She later directed productions at the Sante Fe (New Mexico) Opera Company. She died in Sante Fe in 2003 at the age of 86.

– According to Hollywood legend, our mystery actress literally slept her way to the role in our mystery picture, conducting an affair with a studio executive. After three weeks of filming in the part she was canned, and replaced by a now legendary actress who had just completed another role for another studio in a picture that is now a Hollywood super-classic.

Who is our mystery actress? And what movie are we talking about? (Answers tomorrow.)

So, how much did you really know about a woman who acted — sang and danced — in comedies and dramas in movies, and then went on to big hits on television after her film career waned?

We’re talking Ann Sothern here, the subject of this week’s Monday Quiz. A veteran of roles as deceptively ditzy blonds and seasoned madames, Sothern was offscreen a practicing Catholic and a canny, far sighted businesswoman.

She was often seen on the big screen in lighthearted comedies, performing with warmth and vitality. Her range covered B pictures for Columbia and RKO, and a big hit series for MGM. Along the way there was the stage and, later, television.

Her long and productive life in 2001 at age 92. Ok, let’s get to the answers to our Ann Sothern Quiz. To review the questions just scroll down to the blog below. Here we go:

1) Answer: As mentioned in our introduction, Sothern was a singer and occasional dancer (a and d) in addition to being a talented actress. She was trained from an early age as a classical singer by her concert-soprano mother, and sang with a touring band led by her first husband, Roger Pryor.

2) Answer: c) Sothern was Oscar nominated as best actress for her role in (c) 1987′s The Whales of August, costarring Lillian Gish and Bette Davis.

3) Answer: d) Gary Cooper. She appeared with Eddie Cantor in Kid Millions, with Maurice Chevalier in Folies Bergere and with Fredric March in Trade Winds.

4) Answer: Sothern’s actress-daughter (via second husband Robert Sterling) — TishaSterling — plays a younger version of her mother in The Whales of August.

5) Answer: b) Sothern suffered a bout of hepatitus in the Fifties which left her visibly overweight. To compensate, she wore black outfits in her tv sitcoms.

9) Answer: It was b) Nat “King” Cole who skillfully warbled the title song played throughout the movie. It’s a lushly orchestrated ballad at odds with the movie’s grim subject matter (Raymond Burr as a sleaze done in while on the make for Anne Baxter) but still great to listen to.

Long before her television career Ann Sothern was a top film star. (In this she is much like another recent Quiz subject, Red Skelton, with whom she appeared on the tube in 1953.)

In fact, Sothern started making movies in Hollywood as an extra in 1927, before sound came in. In the ensuing years she rolled up more than 100 film and tv credits taking her career all the way to 1987. She died in 2001 at age 92 — a long and productive life.

What may not be generally known about Sothern is what a smartly industrious performer she was. She embodied the hip-swinging, sassy blonds of the 1940′s who took no guff from oafish wolves — strong, resilient women presented long before the feminist movement took flight. She also was a smart business woman, one of the first who produced — and owned — her successful tv offerings.

That professional independence cost her, she later said. How dare a woman be competitive or producer her own shows? she asked rhetorically. I think Hollywood has been terrible to me.

Be that as it may, it behooves us classic movie fans to know more about Sothern that perhaps we do. Thus our Monday Quiz. As usual, questions today, answers tomorrow. Here we go:

1) Question: Sothern always prided herself on being “multitalented.” What was her other skill? a) She was a singer; b) She could juggle; c) She was an a self-taught accountant; or d) She was a dancer.

2) Question: Sothern was nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar for her role in: a) The Blue Gardenia; b) A Letter To Three Wives; c) The Whales of August; or d) Lady Be Good?

3)Question: Which of the following did Sothern NOT costar with? a) Maurice Chevalier; b) Eddie Cantor; c) Fredric March; or d) Gary Cooper.

4) Question: Sothern once costarred in a movie that had her actress-daughter playing her character at a young age. Can you identify who this actress-daughter is and what movie are we talking about?

5) Question: In her later years, Sothern appeared on tv noticeably heavier than in her movie days. What accounted for the weight gain? a) Her voracious appetite for rich foods; b) A bout of hepatitus; c) A thyroid problem; or d) Her lack of exercise.

6) Question: Sothern converted to Roman Catholicism thanks to her romance with which one of the following? a) Richard Egan; b) Gregory Peck; c) Alec Guinness; or d) Adolphe Menjou.

7) Question: From 1939 to 1947, Sothern successfully starred as the ditzy blond heroine in a series of 10 MGM movies. What was her feisty character’s name? a) Blondie; b) Sugar; c) Maisie; or d) Mimi.

8) Question: After solving her boss’ personal problems in her late Fifties starring turn in 104 tv episodes of Private Secretary, Sothern created The Ann Sothern Show. What was her role in that program? a) Her boss’ mistress; b) A madame; c) An assistant manager of the swanky New York Hotel; d) The wife of a famous politician.

9) Question: Sothern had a strong supporting role in director Fritz Lang’s 1953 film noir, The Blue Gardenia, which gave rise to a popular hit song. Who sang it? a) Sothern; b) Nat “King” Cole; c) Tommy Leonetti; or d) Elvis Presley.

10) Question: In her middle years, Sothern was often found herself portraying on the big screen which one of the following occupations? a) Gym teachers; b) Vocal Coaches; c) Madames; d) Business executives.

He was billed as “King of the Cowboys,” but here’s a look at Roy Rogers off the set. And look at the background. It gives you a sense of what Hollywood looked like back then.

John Wayne once badmouthed Rogers, saying he wasn’t a “real” cowboy. Then again, Wayne wasn’t a real soldier — he never served in the military.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio on Nov. 5, 1911, the former Leonard Franklin Slye became Roy Rogers, and then became King of the Cowboys and even King of the West.

He is perhaps the most prominent and durable cowpoke in movie history — totally encapsulated by his cowboy roles. That’s all Rogers did.

He was strictly a genial, sometimes singing but always straight-shooting cowboy who starred in nearly 120 movies and tv vehicles spanning nearly a half century. He certainly ranks right up there with the likes of Tom Mix, GeneAutry, Hopalong Cassidy (aka William Boyd), Ken Maynard, Lash LaRue and Don “Red”Barry.

Take a close look at the photo of Rogers above. It’s never been seen before.

That’s because it is part of our exclusive Donald Gordon Collection of private snapshots taken in Forties Hollywood by our late pal, who at the time was serving a kind of junior-actor-in-residence at Columbia Pictures.

Supporting Rogers throughout much of his career was his faithful horse Trigger, who appeared in all Roy’s pictures from 1938 until 1965, when the steed died at the ripe age of 33. Also often on hand were grizzled character actor George “Gabby” Hayes and, most importantly, Dale Evans.

She and Roy began in 1947 their lengthy marriage, which ended in 1998 when Roy was felled by congestive heart problems. Dale was his third wife.

Rogers is remembered today more for the chain of restaurants that he lent his name to rather than the body of his film work. But thanks to the wonderful Donald Gordon photo collection, we get a chance to see the relaxed and rather handsome cowboy at his period Hollywood leisure.

NOTE: Speaking of yesterday’s photo subjects, the good-looking threesome shown in yesterday’s blog are Dean Martin (left), Shirley MacLaine and, of course, Elvis (in uniform). All were professionally connected one way or another to producer Hal Wallis. The birthday (we think) was Dean’s.

Who are the Most durable stars? No, not Joan Crawford,Bette Davis,Katherine Hepburn. And forget about Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy and Tyrone Power.

Well, then, just who are the most popular stars? Madison Avenue knows. It’s about which deceased celebrities sell the most merchandise — the toughest standard by which movie star longevity can be measured.

Sure, stars from the classic Hollywood live on in our affections. But who can still sell tickets — that is, move the merchandise?

The commercial longevity of deceased celebrities — think Elvis and Elizabeth Taylor, for example — is carefully tracked by an outfit called Marketing Evaluations, whose founder developed what is known as the “Q Score” back in the early Sixties. Advertisers and marketers weighing product tie-ins with the famous dead check in for their respective “Q Scores” to find out who is best known and still popular.

The New York Times reported, for example, that Marilyn Monroe – who would be nudging 90 today had she not died in 1962 — is near the top of the some 145 departed celebrities with Q ratings, but she is by no means the favorite. Still in all, Marilyn’s name remains golden — or at least green.

The Times includes this interesting business factoid: Monroe, whose estate was acquired by Authentic Brands Group in 2010, has a significant presence on social media, with more than 7.3 million followers on her official Facebook page and more than 153,000 followers on Twitter.

Those who sell the products find it reassuring that their deceased celebrity tie-ins can’t boomerang in scandal. Referring to Marilyn, marketing executive put it this way: “You know she’s not going to be stumbling down on the set or getting arrested.”

Also the price for a tie-in with dead star — such as Charlie Chaplin,James Dean and Steve McQueen, who still have currency in the endorsement markets — is a lot cheaper than the fees demanded by A-list stars still with us.

But which deceased stars have the highest Q ratings?

Topping the list is none other than Lucille Ball, who died 27 years ago. Then comes JohnWayne, who departed 37 years ago. Then in terms of familiarity and popularity ratings comes Bob Hope, who’s been dead for well over a decade. Of course, Hope and Ball were huge TV stars as well as film stars.

Marilyn, the Duke, Lucy and old ski nose — an amazingly durable bunch.

How much did you remember about the lovable on screen but often-disliked off screen personality, the subject of our Monday Quiz?

That’s our man, Red Skelton, above with Ann Rutherford (left) and Virginia Grey, his costars in 1941′s Whistling in the Dark. As you can tell by our opening remark, Skelton was much different offscreen than on. And the contrast wasn’t always appreciated.

Skelton was much like Danny Kaye. Both were broadcomic presences with rubbery faces. Both had manic energy to spare. Both were married to dominating women who acted as their managers/agents. And both had plenty of detractors offscreen.

Both also share something else — being forgotten as classic movie personalities. Skelton is primarily remembered today as a tv comedian whereas Kay is hardly remembered at all. (No doubt Kaye, who harbored vast intellectual pretensions, would recoil at the comparisons to Skelton, who appealed to less sophisticated audiences.)

In any case, since Skelton was a giant of early television — and he was most entertaining in films — he is certainly worth knowing at least something about. Thus our Monday Quiz. To review our questions just scroll down to the blog below. Now to our answers:

1) Answer: Skelton became known as “Red” because of (b) the color of his hair.

2) Answer: Skelton’s various tv characters did not include (d). Fred Rogers created Mister Roger’s Neighborhood on his own.

3) Answer: b) False. Skelton was not a drinker, claiming to be allergic to alcohol. He also disdained what he called “blue humor.” He was, in short, pretty straightlaced off camera.

4) Answer: c) MGM tried to groom Skelton as another Bob Hope.

5) Answer: The answer here is (c). Skelton at first refused to shave his very hairy chest — a requirement for his role in 1944′s Bathing Beauty with Esther Williams. He was to be photographed, after all, in just a swimsuit. Director George Sidney pleaded with the comic to no avail. I won’t do it, and that’s final, Skelton declared. Finally a call was placed to Skelton’s first wife, Edna Marie Stilwell, who as his agent and personal manager made all of his decisions. He finally relented — after being paid an extra $200 in cash.

6) Answer: b) Jim Carrey, who, like Skelton, has a rubbery face, manic energy to spare and is no stranger to bathos.

7) Answer: (b) False. Esther Williams put it this way: I expected Red to have a sense of humor when I worked with him, but he didn’t…Onstage, Red could be hilarious; but offstage he was pleasantly businesslike.

8) Answer: Skelton addressed his first wife, Edna Marie Stilwell, as (b) “Mama.” As Esther Williams noticed, Skelton was very much an overgrown kid

9) Answer: d) 1960′s Ocean’s Eleven.

10) Answer: When Columbia Pictures mogul Harry Cohn died in 1958, Skelton is credited with quipping (upon seeing the large crowd at Cohn’s funeral): Well it only proves what they always say — if you give the public what they want, they’ll always show up.

Although today most people think of Red Skelton as a star of Television, he was, in fact a big Film star.

No question that the comedian reached vast audiences via his radio and tv shows — the latter forming the mainstay of CBS’ Tuesday night prime time schedules from 1953 to 1970. Skelton was often mistakenly thought of as a creation of the tube, a daffy clown who excelled an creating an amusing lineup of eccentric characters.

But Skelton’s show biz bona fides were already established via Hollywood movies — about 40 of them to be more or less exact made from 1938 through 1989, eight years before his death at age 84.

He always was a favorite of family audiences thanks to a series of light comedies and musicals. He worked “clean” and believed heartily in leaving ‘em laughing.

He also worked with some of classic Hollywood’s biggest stars. And, again, he was a star himself. How much do you known about Red Skelton? Why not take our Monday Quiz and find out. As usual, questions today and answers tomorrow. Here we go:

1) Question: Why was Richard Skelton, the pride of Vincennes, Indiana, known as “Red”? a) Because he was far left politically ; b) Because of the color of his hair; c) Because of his hair-trigger temper; or d) Because of his dislike of John Wayne and Ward Bond.

2) Question: Skelton’s highly popular impersonations of tv characters did NOT include which one of the following? a) Clem Kadiddlehopper; b) Freddie the Freeloader; c) George Appleby; or d) Mr. Rogers.

3) Question: Despite his clean-living public facade, Skelton was one of Hollywood’s renowned drunks. a) True; or b) False?

4) Question: When Skelton first started out at MGM, he was groomed to become another a) Ed Wynn; b) Bert Lahr; c) BobHope; or d) Lou Costello?

5) Question: Esther Williams, Skelton’s MGM costar in 1944′s Bathing Beauty, reported that the comedian fiercely resisted a requirement for his part as Broadway songwriter “Steve Elliott.” Why? a) He disliked wearing wigs; b) He refused to wear a dress in one scene; c) He balked at shaving off his profuse chest hair; or d) He loathed the idea of kissing Williams.

As we’ve seen from viewing the many informal photos in the Collection of the late DonaldGordon, Hollywood classic stars often look different onscreen and off.

Not necessarily better but somehow different – slicker, more polished, fully made-up and primed for box office consumption.

That‘s not to say the raw material isn’t pretty good.

Lana Turner, for example, was a knockout from the get-go. By age 15, Lana (born in Idaho) found herself attending Hollywood High School. Schoolmate, actressNanetteFabray, recalled thatshe was the most incredibly beautiful girl we had ever seen. Even the teachers stared at her…she had the bearing of a princess. We all knew she would be a movie star.

Lana quickly became known as “The Sweater Girl” after she was discovered not at Schwab’s but at Currie’s Ice Cream Parlor on the corner of Highland Ave. and Sunset Blvd.

She was cutting a high school class, sipping a coke when she was introduced to man-about-Hollywood Billy Wilkerson. He put her in touch withZeppo Marx, who had retired from The Marx Brothers to become a talent agent. Lana soon found herself working as an extra in the 1937 version ofA Star Is Born. Her journey had begun.

By the way, that’s a Never Before Seen photo from the Gordon Collection.